In the wake of Covid-19, merchants continue to see more features added to cloud-based point-of-sale systems. In the latest updates, Lightspeed POS Inc. introduced on Tuesday new e-commerce services, including shipping, curbside pick-up, and appointment setting. And Revel Systems Inc. has refined its online ordering and order-pickup management. First up, …
Read More »Square’s PPP Lending and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/16/20
Merchant processor Square Inc. said that as of June 10 its Square Capital service had facilitated more than $820 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans to 76,000 small businesses since April 29. PPP loans are part of the federal government’s stimulus program to combat the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.In …
Read More »COMMENTARY: How a Global Pandemic Changed Payments
COVID-19 has shaken the global economy. Social distancing has drastically shifted consumer behavior and introduced a new set of challenges to stores and shoppers alike. For merchants, it has been difficult to manage a dip in discretionary spending, a rapidly increasing number of online shoppers, and an explosion of competition …
Read More »A New E-Commerce Normal? and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/11/20
E-commerce sales in Signifyd’s Covid-19 Weekly Pulse Report for E-Commerce dipped 8% for the week of June 2-8 compared to the prior seven-day period. With non-essential retail opening in many states, e-commerce sales may be settling into a new natural level, the report said.Retail sales in the CardFlight Small Business Impact Report for the …
Read More »More Transaction Detail on Statements Could Prevent Many Chargebacks, Report Says
With chargeback costs poised to grow an estimated 52% by 2023 for U.S. payment card issuers alone, issuers as well as merchants and merchant acquirers have every incentive to reduce those costs. And one way they could do it is by providing more transaction detail on consumers’ online credit card …
Read More »59% Shopping More Online and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/10/20
Fifty-nine percent of all respondents to a survey by CouponFollow LLC, a provider of discount codes for online shoppers, are doing more online shopping as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that jumps to 65% when looking just at the Gen-Z generation.A technology startup called BellyMelly launched a food-ordering app that lets …
Read More »Store Failures Will Spike as Merchants Wrestle With Covid-19’s Wreckage, a Researcher Predicts
Despite tentative signs of an economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced depression, some experts are forecasting a gloomy outlook for store closures as the year plays out and merchants struggle with debt loads and a consumer shift to e-commerce. At least 20,000, and as many as 25,000, stores will likely shut …
Read More »Overall Retail Sales Are in a Slump, But E-Commerce Is a Big Bright Spot
Total U.S. retail sales, including auto and fuel, will drop 10.5%, to $4.894 trillion in 2020, a total not seen since 2016, forecasts eMarketer Inc. That’s sharper than the 8.2% slump in 2009, in the midst of that recession more than 10 years ago. E-commerce, however, is the bright spot. …
Read More »Merchants Bracing for Higher Reserve Requirements From Acquirers
The economy is slowly thawing from its Covid-19 freeze-up, but many card-accepting merchants are struggling with more chargebacks stemming from canceled trips, non-delivery of goods, or other reasons. And some of them also are dealing with demands from their merchant acquirers for more cash to fund reserve accounts. Payments and …
Read More »Covid-19’s Payment Choice Impact and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/8/20
Fearing Covid-19, consumers are less likely to use any method to make a payment in a store these days, but 20% say they have used a smart phone or smart watch do so in the past week, no change from a year ago, even though fewer say they have used a debit …
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